If you are a resident of Brookings County, you are entitled to a free library card. Please present an ID which shows your current address when registering for a card. Registration cards for children under 18 must be signed by a parent or guardian.

Out of County residents are welcome to use the library. You may get a library card for an annual fee of $32.00 per individual or $42.00 per family.

Materials (except videos & DVD's) may be renewed by clicking here : Online Catalog. Log in using your library barcode and your last name as your password. If you are having difficulties please call us at
605-692-9407.

The charge for late returns is 10 cents per day plus the postage fees for notices. Videos and DVD's are $1.00 per day overdue.

Brookings residents who are unable to get to the library due to illness, injury or other reasons can have the library come to them. The Outreach Coordinator visits patrons every two weeks to deliver and retrieve materials. To request this free service, call the library (692-9407) and ask for Outreach.

The Friends of the Brookings Public Library is an independent, nonprofit, volunteer organization comprised of people who use their library and take pride in it. Friends' service projects include assisting with the Children's Summer Reading program, decorating for the holidays, providing refreshments at library events, and fundraising to supplement the library budget.

The Brookings Public Library has two small study rooms, one small conference room and one large meeting room (Cooper Room) that can be divided into two smaller rooms. The children’s activity room (story time) and the Historical Collection room are not available as public meeting areas, but may be used for library or city business.

Priority is given to educational programs sponsored by the library when scheduling the use of the library's meeting rooms. If not reserved for library purposes, the meeting rooms are available for public gatherings of a civic, cultural, or educational character. The Library reserves the right to limit the use of the meeting rooms by any one group to best accommodate the many requests for this facility. All meetings must be open to the general public. There may be no fund raising, promotion of fee-based products or services, sale of items on the premises, or admission fee charged. Recovery charges for food served are allowed. For-profit businesses/organizations are charged a $10 per meeting fee payable when completing the Meeting Room Contract.

Meetings may be held only during regular hours of library service and staffing. Groups or people conducting the meeting will have access to the facility only during the time period designated. Meetings MUST be concluded so that all participants may exit the library no later than the normal library closing time on that day. PLEASE ALLOW TIME NEEDED FOR SETUP, CLEANUP AND RELATED SUPPORT SERVICES when scheduling the rooms. Any group or people whose gathering lasts past closing time will be charged a $25 per hour fee for any part of an hour.

The fact that a group is permitted to meet in the library does not in any way constitute an endorsement of the group's policies or beliefs.

The Library Board reserves the right to deny or revoke permission to use the meeting rooms. An organization may request from the Library Board a waiver or clarification of these policies at a regularly scheduled Board meeting.

Request for reservation of the meeting rooms should be made at the Library. Tentative approval may be given by telephone. A meeting room contract must be completed at least three days before the meeting date. A meeting cannot be scheduled more than 90 days in advance.

Seating arrangements are the responsibility of the organization using the meeting room. Chairs and tables must be returned to storage at the close of the meeting.

Alcohol, smoking, or candles are not permitted. Food and other beverages may be served. Groups are responsible for clean up and will be billed for any special cleaning necessary.

Group members are responsible for the supervision of their children while using the meeting rooms.

There are physical copies of the Meeting Room Contract Form at the circulation desk, or online at this link: Meeting Room Forms. Please call the library at (605)692-9407 with any questions.

To login to the library catalog to search for materials, view your account, or order items through Inter-Library Loan you need to login using the barcode numbers on the back of your library card, and the password is set to your last name.

Clara Morrison Brookings, wife of W.W. Brookings, made initial contact with Andrew Carnegie in 1902, asking him to provide money for a library building in Brookings, her husband's namesake community. On October 9,1907, Pastor Hugh Robertson, of the Presbyterian church, and South Dakota State College librarian William H. Powers penned a similar request to Carnegie who offered Brookings$10,000 for a library building on December 13, 1907. Alas, as Powers remarked later, those interested in a library "could not get public opinion sufficient to make action possible."

By 1913, however, conditions had changed in Brookings, and Powers could accept Carnegie's $10,000 offer on behalf of the the Brookings Free Library Association. The Association retained G.C. Miller of Chicago to design the new building. With his partner Normand Patton, Miller, an experienced library architect, fashioned over 100 Carnegie libraries throughout the Midwest.

Miller worked alone on the Brookings design, however, to create a one and one-half story rectangular building with both Prairie style and Tudor elements. Miller specified brick construction, laid in a stretcher bond patter and topped by stucco panel faced with wooden beams, giving the building a half-timbered appearance. He covered the hipped roof with wide eaves in red tile. The entrance, with a central opening, provided for a balanced interior plan, with librarian's desk at hte center and reading rooms flanking it on either side.

James Bertram, Carnegie's secretary, scrutinized the plan for any impracticalities or wasted space. Aware of this, Miller used the most current library design. J.H. Robert, a local contractor, completed construction in Feb 1915.

One of the 25 Carnegie-funded buildings in South Dakota, Brookings Library is important because Miller designed it. It served as the City's library until 1976, when the "Carnegie" became the Brookings Community Cultural Center. It was nominated to the Nation register of Historic Places May 7, 1980.

The first recorded history the BPL is from November 27, 1911 minutes of the Brookings Free Library Association. This Association established a new library, which was open 14 hours per week in the upstairs assembly room of City Hall, which was located on 4th Street.

In 1913 Brookings citizens approved a one-mill levy for the library and it officially became the BPL. A lot was purchased at the intersection of 6th Avenue and Williams Street (now 4th Street) and a $10,000 grant was received from the Andrew Carnegie Foundation for a building. The Carnegie Library was completed and dedicated on February 18, 1915.

By the early 1970’s it was very obvious that the community had outgrown the Carnegie Library. However, it took three bond issue elections before voters approved the construction of a new library. The new library was built directly south of the original library. The library was dedicated on November 21, 1976.

In the mid 1980’s the Library board determined that due to steady and continuing growth in both use and public support of the library, an addition should be planned. A bond narrowly failed in 1989. Funding for the expanded Brookings Public Library using second penny sales tax revenues was approved in 1997. Construction began in March 1998. During the 18 months of construction the library doubled its size from 16,000 to 32,000 square feet. The cost of the project was $2.8 million. The Friends donated $2,500 towards the expansion and a $78,000 grant was received. Over 160 volunteers helped move the library twice. The collection was moved in April 1999 from the old part to the newly constructed upstairs and again in July 1999 so the upstairs could be completed.

Early in 2008 the library was rearranged to expand the Young Adult section and to make the library more user friendly. New flooring was added to the Joyce Wrage Children's Activity room.